Brand guide · v3

An antler is a tree of decisions. So is good architecture.

The mark

The mark holds all three letters. Spine, base and two arms make the E; the spine and base alone are the L; and the middle tine splits, one branch rising and one falling, into the K. It is drawn as an elk antler: the arms are identical arcs that leave the spine at a right angle, the rising tines end in a node the way branches end in a system diagram, and the split is a node tree branching. Four lines and two circles on a 48-unit grid; it reads as an E first, then as ELK.

ESpine, base, two tinesTwo identical arcs leave the spine at a right angle and end in nodes.
LSpine and baseInside the E: the upright and the ground it stands on.
KSplit the middle tineOne branch rises, one falls: the fork that makes the K, and a node tree branching.
ELKOne markRead as an E first, then as all three letters.

Files: elk-mark.svg · elk-mark-light.svg · elk-mark-small.svg

Color

Cool concrete, deep ink, one ember: the colors of a drawing office, not a coffee shop. The palette is deliberately quiet so that Ember means something whenever it appears. Use Ember for small things: a node, a status dot, a single word.

30%

Ink

#121314

Primary text, dark surfaces

44%

Concrete

#E3E5E4

Primary background

8%

Chalk

#F1F2F1

Raised surfaces: panels, diagrams

4%

Ember

#E2531F

Accent: nodes, highlights, one thing per view

4%

Steel

#8D9396

Muted text on Ink, inactive states

6%

Graphite

#4A4E50

Secondary text

2%

Rule

#C9CDCC

Lines, dividers, frames

Typography

Three voices. A condensed grotesk for headlines, set like lettering on a technical drawing; a sturdy grotesk for reading; and a mono kept for what is genuinely technical: numbers, indexes, code. Emphasis comes from weight, not italics: the accent word drops to a light, quieter cut.

Display · Archivo, condensed (75%) · 600 & 300

Structure, first.

Text · Schibsted Grotesk · 400 / 500 / 700

Body copy is set in Schibsted Grotesk at 17–19px with generous leading. It is sturdy, a little journalistic, and never cold.

Technical · JetBrains Mono · 400 / 500

(04) L3 · data · postgres → redis · 2004–now

Voice

Write like a senior engineer explaining something to a smart friend.

  1. 01

    Plain over clever

    Say what it does. Wit is welcome only when it is also true.

  2. 02

    Specific over grand

    “Wrote the first line of code” beats “passionate innovator”.

  3. 03

    Calm confidence

    No exclamation marks, no buzzwords, no “cutting-edge”.

  4. 04

    Structure shows

    Numbers, labels and indexes are part of the voice: (01), L3, 2005.